Attention all Knifemakers!.....Product dealers/retailers and/or knife makers/sharpeners/hobbyists (etc) are not permitted to insert business related text/videos/images (company/company name/product references) and/or links into your signature line, your homepage url (within the homepage profile box), within any posts, within your avatar, nor anywhere else on this site. Market research (such as asking questions regarding or referring to products/services that you make/offer for sale or posting pictures of finished projects) is prohibited. These features are reserved for supporting vendors and hobbyists.....Also, there is no need to announce to the community that you are a knifemaker unless you're trying to sell something so please refrain from sharing.
Thanks for your co-operation!

If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Strange behavior of the Naniwa Aotoshi

I spent literally a year looking for the best solution to sharpening cheapos. Mercer, Wusthof, NSF, Forschner, etc. I could not find anything better than the edge off a belt, my favorite being 120grit belt followed by a 1200 grit SiC belt, then 1200 grit rod.

But it had a long list of cons:
1. Messy
2. Easy to make a big mistake(overheat the tip, overgrind the edge on the corner of the platen)
3. People are scared of it because they don't know I'm not a steel-hogging nutjob
4. Belts wore out like every 10 knives, and were not free.
5. Power was a BIG hassle--it would require either an entire VAN or a generator or a complex battery system.

So I was set to figure out how to remove chips and found a solution in the Atoma 140x. The edge off that is too rough, and a 3 stone solution for cheap knives is a waste of time. I need one stone.

I tried about a dozen different 1k-2k stones trying to find one that performed best, picking qualities I needed. I usually used a 1k followed by some edge-trailing on a Shapton Pro 2k, which was not as good as the belt.

Then I got an Aotoshi. It had terrible feedback, was super chalky feeling, and left a comically shiny edge. First knives I tried it on were my Shigefusa and Tojiro DP, the knives I know the best--and the edge just plain SUCKED! Wouldn't be happy with that edge at all, not even for a 2k edge. I was bummed.

But then I tried it on a Dexter stainless, and it was magic! I couldn't believe it. Straight off the stone, this is the best performing, all-around edge I've ever gotten, but only for cheap knives. And it's fast enough to remove 140x finish, and leaves a noobie-friendly shiny edge. The stone is soft enough to gouge easily, which is great, because it means I can work fast on it and not worry so much about rounding edges or the corner of the stone riding high and damaging a knife by accident.

Here's a quick video for you guys to see what I'm talking about. Lots of sniffling and whatnot, it's allergy season.

yeah i sharpened my buddys chroma porsche series or whatever its called and i was impressed i must say. its the worst stone i own. i may infact donate it to work so the guys can have something to touch up knives with. mine laps unusually fast and the stone catches the edge all the time taking chunks out of the stone. its my "beater" stone i guess you could say. so i usually use it on my friends shuns, chromas and wusties...

Poor knives do not deserve any stone: get a few sheets of sandpaper (P120, 320, 600 and 1200) and you may sharpen some 50 crappy soft knives for some $5 costs. Much faster than stones, no flattening and an acceptable result. The advantage of Eamon's approach though is the shiny appearance (faux polish if one may say so).